


Warpath

by Azulet



Series: Friendships [3]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Best Friends, Broken Heart, Brotp, Comfort/Angst, Cute Ending, Epic Bromance, Epic Friendship, Evil OC, F/M, Families of Choice, Future Fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Nico & Reyna Friendship, Nico is Reyna's bestie, OMC - Freeform, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Reyna and Nico are Friends, Reyna and Nico are bros, Sad Reyna, Unconventional Families, nico is an angel, reynico bromance, sweet friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azulet/pseuds/Azulet
Summary: Reyna falls in love with someone, and then (minor spoiler alert) he breaks her heart. Nico is worried about his friend and comforts her. More Reynico bromance! Also, WARNING: Surrealist McMetaphor. Very confusing.





	

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**Ten Minutes Ago:**

Reyna stood, leaning against the pillars of Bellona's temple. He had betrayed her. _Lied._ And she had loved him. _Loved_ him. Not just a crush, like Percy or Jason, she had really, truly cared about him. _And quietly, he had taken her heart out, replacing the empty space with warm word and gentle lies, so she didn’t notice what he had taken, and then he had ripped it apart._ And she couldn’t do anything to stop him. “Helpless” was not a word Reyna liked to use, but right now, that’s how she felt.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Three Days Ago:**

“I’m going to work,” Reyna said, leaning over, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He smiled, glancing up from his eggs and toast.

“Okay, see you when you get back,” _he was copper and silver, the leafs autumn and the ice of winter, and he was holding her heart_.

“Why are you being so stubborn?” _her Shadow, her secret-keeper_ , was ignoring her attempts.

“I don’t want to meet him.” Nico wouldn’t meet her eyes, he was staring intently at a rip in his faded black jeans. They were outside, sitting at one of the small two-person tables in front of a coffee shop. Reyna had been here a million times, but she still couldn’t remember the name.

“Nico, why?” there was something off about the way her friend had been acting lately. When he didn’t respond, she continued, “You never call me back, you’re always ‘busy’, what’s going on?” Still nothing. _Her angel_ knew someone had stolen her heart, and he knew who, but he didn’t know if she knew. “Fine.” She said defiantly, but _her angel, her Shadow, her secret-keeper,_ could hear her soul whispering, even when she wouldn’t. “I thought we were friends. We’re supposed to share everything.”

“Reyna,” he said finally, “do you trust me?” _His Strength, his sister, his protector,_ nodded without hesitation.

“Of course. Why would you ask?” Reyna was hurt that Nico would need an answer to an obvious question.

“Then you have to trust me now. He doesn’t really love you. You’re spending your heart on a liar.” She looked at him, not wanting to believe.

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**Six Months Ago:**

“Would you like sour cream with that?”

“Yes please.” Reyna set down her menu. _Brown and grey, warm and cold._

He handed her a slip of paper. “That’s my number.” He smiled hopefully, “Call me if you’d like to meet for coffee sometime.” She smiled back.

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**Two Hours Ago:**

She was crumpled on the floor, no one was watching. Not even her _Shadow_. She was home, in her room, reading and re-reading the note. “Reyna,” it said _, letters like daggers_ , “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” _their arms were linked, brown and purple, waiter and praetor, walking in a forest of dreams,_ “but I have to leave.” _Someone was calling, but it wasn’t what she knew, it was the language of angels,_ “I’ve found someone else.” _Her Shadow was there, worried, and she smiled, not knowing her heart wasn’t there,_ “I’m really sorry.” _And he didn’t understand. He looked at them, copper and gold, his strength taken away, and he was gone, leaving._ “Yours,” and there was his name, in nice, neat letters, as though mocking her heart, which she had found _broken, shattered, torn apart,_ on the floor.

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**One Hour Ago:**

The _angel_ came, searching for his _strength_ , but she had gone. Underneath the bed, he found the _shattered glass of a broken heart_. And the letter. And he hates those words, that name. He didn’t want to be right, because now his protector is broken, wounded, all alone, and there’s no one to care for her. He picks up every piece of glass, _the fragments oozing red pain_.

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**Two Minutes Ago:**

She’s hiding in the _path of destruction_ , telling herself this is her _warpath_ , her _vengeance_.  She is hiding in the temple of her mother, thinking of betrayal.

_The Leader_ knows betrayal better then she would like. Their first meeting was when she was young. Her father, _the shining hero_ , had been abandoned by his senses, and he had blamed her.

After escaping _the prison called home_ , she had run, following her _guardian_ , but _the guardian_ had found her own home, which was too small for Reyna.

_The Leader_ had finally found something to lead, and she had been betrayed again. She had found the _sky_ , _beautiful, perfect, always there_ , but he was _too far away, she couldn’t reach him,_ and then he was _gone_.

Wandering, _trying to climb to the sky_ , she had stumbled upon the sea.  He wasn’t flawless, as the sky had been, but she had thought him incredible. _Blue and green and deep and dark, sparkling, soft, welcoming_. When she had finally gathered the courage to walk in, to say hello, she had discovered he wasn’t what she had thought. _Rough, cold,_ _pushing her back,_ and she didn’t understand why.

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**One Minute Ago:**

_The Shadow, the secret-keeper,_ knew where she had gone. Where she always went. He stepped into the darkness, finding his way in the whispering depths, towards the light, _the broken leader, his strength_.

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**Now:**

The darkness opened like arms, offering up something to comfort her. She looked up from the floor that was her house, and saw the person that was her home.

“Reyna,” Nico said, kneeling gently next to her. Hot tear were dripping down her face, making soft plopping sounds on the dusty floor.  He gently helped her sit up, and she slumped limply against him. Nico was barely more than half her weight, but he managed to support his best friend. “Hey,” he said, feeling her body shaking with silent sobs, “I’m here.” Reyna nodded, not responding.

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**Two Years,  Five Months, One Week, Four Days, Sixteen Hours,  Seven Minutes, Twenty-One Seconds Ago:**

Betrayal was common ground for Reyna, so when she met the person who would become the most important person in her life, she didn’t expect him to like her, let alone trust her. And she certainly didn’t guess she would trust him in return. But none the less, after days traveling together, sharing her strength, she began to care for him. By the end of their journey, they were the type of close most people only got after a lifetime spent together. They had both been shattered, repaired, and broken again, but they had found a certain companionship in each other. Sure, Nico had Will, and for a time, Reyna had _him_ , but that was different.

Even after the quest, after all the time, all the distance that comes for rarely seeing one another, they were still the same.

The only one who had never betrayed her, the only one she truly trusted, truly loved, the only one who was always there.

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**Now:**

Reyna could feel Nico’s warm breath against her scalp. _Good, the shadow-travel didn’t hurt him_. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she still worried whenever he used his powers. She could stay like this forever, comforted, protected, but she knew she had to face the world at some point.

“I’m okay,” Reyna muttered, just loud enough for Nico to hear, and he let go, just a little bit, so she could sit up properly.

“I found the note.” Nico handed it to her, watching for a reaction.   _He handed back her heart, glued back together with love, worry, and trust_. She crumpled it up, and when she glanced up, there was a watery smile on her lips. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Nico frowned, clearly not satisfied with this strangely quick return to normal.

Reyna sighed. “Okay, maybe I’m not fine, but I’ll figure this out. I’ll move on.” She shrugged. “Everyone I’ve ever trusted has betrayed me – except you,” she added quickly.

Nico was glad of the half-light in Bellona’s temple, it hid his blush. “C’mon,” Reyna said, standing up, offering him a hand. He took it, and together they walked into the sunlight.


End file.
